


Mission (Maybe) Impossible

by CaptainScience



Category: Free!
Genre: Day 8- shoujo shenanigans, Getting Together, I'm so sorry, M/M, Rinharu Week 2017, This is honestly a bit ridiculous, This is of course late, because I can never get anything done on time, but then again Rin and Haru ARE ridiculous together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 05:54:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10847805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainScience/pseuds/CaptainScience
Summary: Haru’s mission should he choose to accept it: distract Rin long enough for Makoto to take Gou out on a date.





	Mission (Maybe) Impossible

**Author's Note:**

> Omg look who's back and late as always?? Anyways, I of course couldn't get this done on time (I was out of town during most of rhweek), but I'd be a failure if I couldn't muster up SOMETHING for the otp week. This fic is a bit silly (teenage ridiculousness at its finest), but it was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you all enjoy!

 

Makoto and Gou’s first date goes easily enough. When Makoto begs Haruka to occupy Rin for a few hours, Haruka figures calling Rin and asking him for a race’ll give Makoto all the time he needs. Rin, being Rin, of _course_ takes the bait, and a day at the pool gives Makoto and Gou plenty of time to do, well, whatever they’re doing on their first date.

 

Honestly, Haruka doesn’t really care enough to ask. Haruka presumes it’s a one-time deal, shrugs it off, and moves on with his life.

 

Except apparently a one-time-deal it is not.

 

Two weeks later, freshly showered and walking back home together from practice, Makoto brings the idea up again.

 

“So uhm, Haru-chan…” Makoto starts, and Haruka has to hold back the sigh because he can just _tell_ by the tone of Makoto’s voice that he’s going to be asked to do something annoying. Yet again.

 

“What, Makoto?”

 

“Ah, well, the amusement park is having a couples’ day where you can get discounts, and I was really hoping to maybe, you know…”

 

This time Haruka _does_ sigh.

 

“You want me to occupy Rin again.”

 

“I mean, only if you want to!”

 

Haruka side-eyes Makoto because no, he _doesn’t_ want to play distractor so that Makoto can secretly run off with Rin’s little sister. But he’s talked to Nagisa about it, and apparently because they’re best friends he’s obligated to be Makoto’s ‘wingman’ (whatever that means) when it comes to things like this.

 

And so he’s well aware that there’s no ‘if you want to’ in Makoto’s sentence, despite the congenial choice of words. “Fine, whatever.”

 

“Ehhh!? Really?” Makoto gasps out, green eyes wide in excited surprise.

 

“Yeah,” Haruka pauses a moment before continuing. “But you owe me some mackerel for it.”

 

“O-oh! Of course! Anything at all, Haru. Thank you so much for doing this for me!”

 

“Mm, whatever.”

 

\--

 

Every day Haruka spends occupying Rin for a few hours, he’s paid two cans of mackerel per hour. Nagisa tsks when he finds out, tells Haruka that wingmen are _supposed_ to help for free, but in Haruka’s defense, he’s giving up a _lot_ of free days to help Makoto out.

 

Also, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to play things off.

 

“Haru, I have no idea what’s gotten into you lately, but even _I_ need a day off from racing you, you know,” Rin sighs from the other end of the phone line.

 

“But Rin, we have to race,” Haruka repeats, because honestly he has no idea what else he’s supposed to do.

 

“We don’t _have_ to do anything, Haru. Plus, I have shit to do today. I cracked my favorite pair of goggles and my spare pair sucks. I was going to head to the mall to get a replacement.”

 

Haruka’s eyes are wide because _shit didn’t Makoto say that he and Gou were going to the mall??_ and he’s immediately choking out a “no!”

 

“…Haru?” Rin asks awkwardly from the other end of the phone, and Haruka’s chest is pounding as he struggles to come up with something to say.

 

“C-Come here instead, Rin.”

 

“..What?”

 

“To my house.”

 

“Err, unless you’re secretly peddling goggles out of your backyard, I don’t know how coming over to your house is supposed to help me with my goggle situation.”

 

“We can go out to get you a new pair. Together,” Haruka says smoothly, rather proud of himself for thinking on his feet. If he can distract Rin long enough he can text Makoto to make sure he’s out of the mall by the time they get there, then they can divert any potential crisis of Rin running right into Makoto and Gou on a date.

 

“…You want to go shopping with me? You _do_ realize I won’t let you climb in the fountain at the mall, right?”

 

Haruka scowls into the phone, annoyed Rin can’t see his expression. “I know that.”

 

“And yet you still want to go shopping with me.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Erm, well, alright, I guess? Though why don’t you just meet me there?”

 

“No, come to my house.”

 

“That’s out of the way, Haru…”

 

“I’ll make you lunch.”

 

“I don’t want mackerel for lunch, thanks.”

 

Haruka huffs but he can’t really say much, he _was_ honestly planning on eating mackerel. “I can make something else, then.”

 

“Do you even have something else in your house?”

 

“…I’ll go to the store before you get here.”

 

“Haru.”

 

“Just come, Rin.”

 

“Oiiii, fine. Jeez, what’s gotten into you lately, anyways?”

 

“Rin.”

 

“Ugh, alright, fine. I’ll be there in 45 minutes or so.”

 

“Mmm, good. See you then.”

 

\--

 

“…Meat?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Obviously. You’re looking at it, Rin.”

 

“Wow, I just didn’t think you’d actually make me something else.”

 

Haruka rolls his eyes immediately, opting to ignore Rin as he continues to prepare the slices of ham he’d grabbed from the store. “I said I would.”

 

“Mmm, yeah, I guess you’re right,” Rin grins, hanging over Haruka’s shoulder for a moment (because apparently at some point he’s decided that he owns the thing), before wandering back to the kotatsu and taking a seat. “So you need something from the shop, too?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I just figured that’s why you wanted to go with me,” Rin asks, fingers of his right hand idly drumming on the wooden surface of the kotatsu.

 

“Oh. Uh, sure. Yeah, I need new jammers,” Haruka shrugs, attention still focused on the ham.

 

Rin snorts immediately, shaking his head in amused derision. “You have like ten different pairs of jammers, Haru.”

 

“Mm, I want a new pair, though. A pair that fits better.”

 

“Ten tries and you still can’t get the fit right?” Rin scoffs, earning a sigh from Haruka.

 

“I run now. My body’s changed,” Haruka shrugs, because it’s an honest answer even if it’s not one he’d necessarily wanted to share.

 

“…You actually run now?” Rin asks, sitting up straighter in surprise. “I thought you hated running, Haru.”

 

“It’s not that bad.” Haruka opts to leave it at that, not really wanting to let Rin know he only started up again because of him. Rin has a big enough head as it is; he doesn’t need yet another confidence booster over the effects he has on Haruka.

 

“Well, good. You really need to build up your stamina if you want to have a chance on the national stage,” Rin hums quietly to himself for a moment, and Haruka takes the period of silence to put together two plates of food before heading over to the kotatsu. “You been strength training, too?” Rin asks, and immediately Haruka’s frowning.  Running is one thing. He can _tolerate_ running. Weight lifting, though…

 

“Oi, Haru. You _have_ to build up muscles, you know. And fix your diet! Eat some more meat.”

 

Haruka stares pointedly at the ham in his hand, dumping one of the plates in front of Rin with a scowl.

 

Rin glances down at the pair of the plates, both sporting slices of ham, and laughs. “Alright alright, fair enough. But not just when I’m over, you know.”

 

“Mackerel’s extremely nutritious…” Haruka mumbles as he takes the seat across from Rin.

 

“I’m not saying stop eating mackerel, I’m just saying start adding fruits and vegetables and higher protein foods to your diet as well. Soon enough we’ll be graduating and you’ll be in Tokyo and you’ll have to actually start putting in more effort, you know. Kicking your ass on the international stage isn’t going to be very rewarding if you’re still scrawny as hell,” Rin grins teasingly.

 

Haruka’s scowling immediately and shoving a hunk of ham in his mouth because _why_ must Rin always harp on his diet? He’s not Rin, he doesn’t _care_.

 

“Mmm, this is really good, Haru,” Rin mumbles between bites.

 

“Of course it is, I made it,” Haruka mumbles immediately, attention wavering between Rin and the trophy on the shelving behind him.

 

“So cocky, Nanase,” Rin laughs.

 

Haruka shrugs immediately. “I’m a good cook.”

 

By the time they’re on the train heading towards the mall, Haruka’s been trying to text Makoto for 20 minutes and getting no response. He’s irritated but trying to play it cool by the time they’re stepping into the sports shop. Rin immediately wanders off to go look for a new pair of goggles while Haruka’s left in the swimsuit section, phone in one hand, a pair of black jammers in the other.

 

“Why won’t you respond, Makoto?” Haruka scowls at his phone, shaking it idly in his hand as though that’ll magically make Makoto reply.

 

Rin returns after a few minutes, package of goggles in hand, eyes on Haruka’s phone. “Is something wrong? I never see you with your phone, Haru, and you’ve been on it all day.”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“Er, you sure?”

 

“Yes I’m sure.”

 

“Uh, well, alright. Anyways, you gonna try that pair on?” Rin asks, gesturing towards the jammers.

 

“Huh?” Haruka stares for a moment, glancing between Rin and the jammers. Oh, right. He was supposed to need a new pair. “I-“ Haruka freezes mid-sentence when he looks beyond Rin, staring as Makoto and Gou walk in through the front entrance, hand-in-hand, chattering away. “You should try them on!” Haruka snaps out, grabbing Rin by the arm and shoving him towards one of the changing rooms.

 

“O-Oi! What the hell, Haru? I don’t _need_ a new suit, and I don’t wear jammers anywa-ack!”

 

Haruka doesn’t give Rin the chance to fight him as he shoves the redhead into one of the changing stalls, closing the curtain and tossing the pair of jammers over the pole for him.

 

“What in the _hell_ has gotten into you, Haru?” Rin hisses as he jerks the curtain back to glare at Haruka.

 

“I want to see what you look like in my jammers,” Haruka says immediately, not really thinking as the words come tumbling out.

 

“… _What_?”

 

“Rin. Stop being difficult.”

 

“How am _I_ the one being difficult!?”

 

“Rin.”

 

“What!?”

 

“Just try them on for me. _Please_.”

 

“Sh-shit, fine, fuck, whatever…” Rin growls, face flushed as he shoves the curtain closed once more. “Freakin’ weirdo…”

 

“Oh! Ha-“ Haruka cuts off Gou before she can finish her sentence with a very purposeful shake of his head, pointing immediately to the changing room and then towards the exit. Gou mostly looks confused, but the sudden dawning seems to hit Makoto, and suddenly green eyes are wide and he’s pulling Gou back from whence they came. 

 

“Oi, jammers always feel weird, I’m so used to legskins…” Rin mumbles aloud as he swings the curtain open, and Haruka’s heart’s pounding as his head jerks to the side, towards Gou and Makoto and…

 

They’re already gone? There’s _no way_ they made it to the front entrance before Rin opened the curtain.

 

“You happy?” Rin snaps out awkwardly, shifting in place.

 

Haruka’s attention shifts back to Rin, and he’s immediately taken aback. He’s worn Rin’s suit before, of course, had borrowed a pair of his jammers (in hindsight, why _had_ Rin had a pair of jammers on him…?) in Australia, but he’s never seen Rin in _his_ style swimsuit until now. At least not as adults.

 

It’s honestly kind of… nice. The jammers hang just a _smidge_ too low on Rin because he has more ass and thigh ( _does Rin do a lot of squats?_ ) than Haruka does, but other than that they’re hugging the curve of his thighs and hips quite beautifully.

 

Haruka certainly can’t complain.

 

“Yeah,” Haruka says with a nod. “Thanks. It looks good on you, Rin.”

 

Rin’s flushing, face turning to the side as he lets out a quiet “tch” before shutting the curtain once more. Instantly Gou and Makoto come tumbling out of one of the other changing rooms in a pile of limbs, and Haruka’s staring in surprise as they both do their best to dash off before Rin finishes, both waving and mouthing apology after apology.

 

Haruka just rolls his eyes, shaking his head as Rin finally reemerges.

 

“So uh, you buying these then or what?” Rin asks, holding the pair of jammers back out to Haruka.

 

“Hm? Oh…” Haruka mumbles, idly taking the pair of jammers in hand with a frown. It’s one thing to waste his spare time occupying Rin, it’s another to waste money on a new, expensive pair of jammers he really _doesn’t_ need.

 

There isn’t enough canned mackerel to make up for _this_ one, Makoto.

 

“Mm, they don’t have the exact pair I wanted,” Haruka finally says with a shrug. “This pair was the closest, but still not right.”

 

“…I thought you came here to find something based on fit?” Rin frowns, side-eying Haruka purposefully.

 

“I did. But I wanted it to be a different suit from what I already have. I already have a pair with this white piping.”

 

“All your suits look barely any different, Haru. How is white piping a problem?”

 

Haruka sighs because _why won’t Rin just drop it he doesn’t want to buy a new pair of jammers_. “Maybe I just wanted an excuse to hang out with you, then,” Haruka finally shrugs, glancing at the pair of goggles in Rin’s hand. “You buying those?”

 

“…What?” Rin stares for a moment in confusion, blinking before glancing down at the goggles in his hand. “Uhm, yeah, of course. It’s why we’re here, right?”

 

Rin’s face is obviously flustered as he quickly heads towards the counter with his goggles, leaving Haruka to put away the pair of jammers. Haruka’s pleased with himself, honestly, having managed to avoid having to spend a bunch of money he doesn’t necessarily have.

 

But seriously, he and Makoto are going to _have_ to have a talk.

 

\--

 

In the end, it turns out that Makoto and Gou had been in a movie and Makoto had forgotten to turn his phone back on. Haruka lets it slide, the shenanigans at the mall are forgotten, and everyone moves on with their lives.

 

For all of two weeks, anyways, when Makoto puts on ‘that face’ and Haruka knows exactly what’s coming.

 

Apparently it’s Makoto and Gou’s one month anniversary. Yay.

 

“Makoto, you have to tell Rin eventually,” Haruka sighs out while washing the dishes from lunch. Honestly, he has no idea how Gou and Makoto can find so many things to do for dates. It’s only been a month, and yet he’s already challenged Rin to six different races and dragged him to the mall…

 

“I know, I know! And we will, I promise. Gou and I just… we just want to make sure that this is _really_ something we both want before we tell our families, you know? The only ones that know are the three of you, and until we’re sure, we’d really rather keep it that way.”

 

“If three people know, why do you always come to me to distract Rin?” Haruka mumbles irritably.

 

“I don’t! Last time Nagisa dragged Rin to the arcade!”

 

For a brief, odd moment there’s a small pang in Haruka’s chest, but he brushes it off, glancing over at Makoto in surprise. “Really?”

 

“Yeah, they went and saw a movie and went to the arcade, I think. And he and Rei went to the bookstore together a few weeks ago!”

 

“…Really?” Haruka frowns.

 

“Mmhm! I just… I guess I just figured it was easiest to ask you. I’m sorry, Haru-chan, I shouldn’t always count on you to bail me out all the time. I’ll see if Nagisa or Rei ca-“

 

“I’ll do it.”

 

“Really!?”

 

“Yeah. When is it?”

 

“Uhm, Sunday. We’re meeting up around noon or so?”

 

“Mm, alright, I’m on it.”

 

\--

 

It’s another five days later when Haruka finds himself sitting across his kotatsu from Rin, a mound of English books piled up before them, Rin looking as exasperated as Haruka’s ever seen him.

 

“Oi, Haru, _why_ did you ask me to come over and tutor you in English if you were just going to be a brat the entire time?”

 

“Mm, we should go swimming.”

 

“You aren’t going to get better at English if you just spend every waking moment in the water, you know,” Rin groans, head thunking forehead-first onto the table before adding, “You’re ridiculous...”

 

“It’s still warm enough to swim in the ocean…” Haruka muses pointedly. He’d done his required half-hour of English practice to justify Rin coming over. Now he just wanted to swim.

 

Rin sighs, head shifting to the side so he can stare at Haruka incredulously. “I didn’t bring a swimsuit, Haru. Silly me, I actually thought when you asked me to help you with your English homework you wanted to, you know, _do English homework_.”

 

“You can borrow one of mine.”

 

“Oi, I don’t like jammers much.”

 

“Then why did you bring a pair with you to Australia?”

 

For what may be the first time ever in his life, Rin’s left speechless. Haruka can tell, because his cheeks start to redden and he makes a few pathetic, confused little noises before hiding his head back into the table.

 

It’s actually kind of cute.

 

“It’ll be too cold to swim, soon. We should go now, while we still can,” Haruka prods evenly, idly poking the crown of Rin’s head.

 

“Oiiii,” Rin grunts, swatting blindly at Haruka’s hand before letting out a long, slow sigh and peeking through his hair to eye Haruka. “Your jammers probably won’t fit me anyways.”

 

“I fit yours.”

 

“It’s easier to wear jammers that are a bit too big than a bit too small,” Rin mumbles pointedly, swatting at Haruka’s hand when it gives his forehead another poke.

 

“I have a bunch of them. If you try them all on, I’m sure at least one’ll fit okay.”

 

“Oi. I’m not Cinderella, you know.”

 

Haruka’s blank stare has Rin sighing again before sitting up. “You know, Cinderella? The princess? Went to a ball, met a prince, has a shit ton of Disney merchandise? Prince ran around with a glass slipper trying to fit it on every girl he saw, hoping to find the one with the right shoe size since he never got her name?”

 

“…Lots of people have the same shoe size.”

 

“…You have no sense of romance at all, do you?”

 

“Rin.”

 

“Oiiii, jeez.”

 

“We should swim.”

 

“Yes, I know.”

 

“So you need to try on my jammers.”

 

“I _know_ ,” Rin groans dramatically. “Ughhh, you’re so damned obstinate.”

 

Haruka stares but doesn’t say anything, instead stacking up all of the English books before climbing to his feet, waiting for Rin to follow him to his bedroom.

 

Once they get there Rin stares from the doorframe as Haruka begins to set out all his swimsuits one-by-one, meticulously lining them up before presenting them for inspection.

 

“They barely look any different at all,” Rin grumbles as he steps closer.

 

“But they all _fit_ different.”

 

“Ugh, whatever. Alright, which pair’s the biggest, then?”

 

“Mm, I don’t know.”

 

“…How can you not know? You judge all your swimsuits based on fit, so which one is the loosest?”

 

“I don’t know. They all fit differently...”

 

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Rin groans. “You’re ridiculous.”

 

“Just try them all on.”

 

“Haru, you have _fifteen suits_. I don’t want to try on fifteen suits because you have the attention span of a goldfish and can’t focus on English lessons for more than five minutes.”

 

“It was 32 minutes,” Haruka huffs with a frown, grabbing one of the suits with white pipping detail. “Just try this one, then.”

 

“Tch, fine,” Rin grouses, snatching the suit from Haruka’s hand and disappearing into the washroom to change.

 

“Does it fit?” Haruka asks from his spot standing outside the changing area impatiently.

 

“Er, mostly.”

 

“Mostly?” Haruka parrots, giving into temptation and peeking around the corner to eye Rin.

 

Yup. That would definitely be mostly fitting.

 

“Mm, it’s not so bad. I can’t really see your butt or anything.”

 

“O-oi! Haru!” Rin yelps, turning around to glare at Haruka, face flushed. “Just because you _can_ peek doesn’t mean you should, fuck.”

 

“I can’t see anything, Rin.”

 

“But you didn’t _know_ tha- shit, ugh, whatever...” Rin grumbles, tugging at the hem of the jammers, trying to yank them up just a few centimeters more.

 

“Do you do squats, Rin?”

 

“What?”

 

“Do you do squats? Your waist is small but your thighs are bi-“

 

“Yes I do squats, fuck! Do you even have a filter between your brain and your mouth or do you just blurt out whatever stupid thought you have?”

 

“Your butts big, t-“

 

“Get _out_!” Rin yells, pointing back towards Haruka’s bedroom.

 

“Fiiine, I’ll go get you a different pair.”

 

“I don’t _want_ a different pa- just… ugh, shit, _fine_. I don’t know why I even put up with you, I swear to god…”

 

“I’ll be right back.”

 

“Uuuugh!”

 

\--

 

Finding ways to occupy Rin gets exceedingly harder when summer turns into fall and the weather begins to cool. Swimming in the ocean is no longer an option and nationals are already over, so there aren’t quite as many opportunities to hit Rin up for a race.

 

In turn, Haruka’s forced to get creative.

 

“Hi.”

 

“H-Haru!? What the hell are you doing here?” Rin sputters out, head shaking back and forth as he glances between Sousuke and Haruka.

 

So _maybe_ Haruka should have told Rin that he was going to be showing up on the Samezuka campus to drag him off, but to be fair, it wasn’t like Rin hadn’t, you know, _shown up at Haruka’s front door and dragged him off to freakin’ Australia_.

 

“We’re going to the aquarium.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“We have to leave now or we’ll miss the dolphin show.”

 

“Uh, I don’t recall agreeing to that,” Rin stares. “Sousuke and I were going to-“

 

“You should go, Rin.”

 

“Huh?” Rin blinks, glancing over at Sousuke in surprise.

 

“Mm, I need a nap anyways, my shoulder’s killing me.”

 

Rin frowns. “You alright?”

 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Some meds and a nap and I’ll be all better. Doctor said not to push it after surgery, right?”

 

“Mm, yeah, right, I guess. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me, okay?”

 

“Yeah yeah, I know, mom.”

 

“Dick,” Rin grouses, kicking Sousuke in the thigh and meeting his fist bump before turning his attention back to Haruka. “So really, the aquarium, huh?”

 

Haruka nods curtly, watching as Sousuke gives Rin’s meticulous hair an obnoxious muss before heading back towards the school.

 

“O-oi!” Rin grunts, scowling as Sousuke heads back to the dorms, hand immediately attempting to fix his hair.

 

“Your hair looks fine, Rin,” Haruka sighs, glancing at his watch. “The dolphins are waiting,” he adds, sighing once more as Rin continues attempting to wrangle his hair. With an irritated huff Haruka reaches out, grabbing Rin’s wrist in his hand. “C’mon.”

 

By the time they arrive, the aquarium is jam-packed and Haruka is desperate to get to the dolphin show. Rin, on the other hand, seems more interested in lingering in the hallways, red eyes darting all over the exhibits they have to pass through as Haruka attempts to guide them through the masses to the outdoor stage.

 

Rin suddenly stops and Haruka groans quietly to himself, trying to tug at Rin but, unfortunately, Rin is of hardy stock and when he decides to stop there’s no dragging him against his will. “What is it, Rin?” Haruka finally snaps out, because _the show starts in five minutes and they’re going to have to stand now_ , jerking his head around to eye Rin.

 

“I didn’t know they had blue blubber jellyfish here,” Rin mumbles, a small smile drifting across his face as he yanks his wrist from Haruka’s grip, taking a few steps closer to the exhibit.

 

“Hm?” Haruka frowns, attention following Rin as he moves to stand by the exhibit, face illuminated by the glow of the tank.

 

“They used to wash up on the shore back in Australia sometimes. It was pretty gross, honestly. When the weather got weird they got confused, I guess. They’d end up all over the beach, then die, dry out, and the seagulls would eat them. It used to smell _so_ rank,” Rin laughs.

 

“Yeah…?” Haruka mumbles, attention on Rin moreso than the jellyfish.

 

Suddenly it’s an odd moment in time, almost surreal if he’s being honest, like they’re alone despite the throngs of excited visitors mulling around them.

 

Haruka’s never really noticed it before, really, how sharp and defined Rin’s jawline is. Maybe it’s just the weird aquarium lighting, but for a moment Rin almost looks like he’s glowing, draped in moonlight even though they’re just inside the dark room of the local aquarium’s jellyfish exhibit.

 

“Yup. Too bad we ended up there in winter. Might have been able to see some in the daylight, you know? I always kind of liked them. Kinda gross, but also so clear and blue…”

 

“You don’t talk about Australia much,” Haruka muses quietly to himself, mentally shaking himself from his distracted reverie, quietly moving to join Rin.

 

“Not much to talk about, really. I wish I could have taken you to the Aquarium in Sydney. You would have loved it.”

 

“You did enough as it was.”

 

“Mm, yeah. I guess. I’m just happy it helped.”

 

“It did, Rin.”

 

Rin stares at Haruka for a moment, face unreadable, before turning back to eye the jellyfish.

 

Silence settles between then for a few minutes, both wrapped up in watching the jellyfish drift about in their tanks.

 

“Sh-shit!” Rin finally gasps, when he glances down at his watch and realizes the time. “The show already started!”

 

“Mm, it’s fine. There’s another show later we can go to.”

 

“But you were dragging me all through the aquarium and then I got distracted by some dumb jellyfish and now we’ve missed the show you were all excited about. Ugh, shit I’m sorry…”

 

“I said it’s fine, Rin. Why don’t we go look at the sharks instead?”

 

“Y-Yeah…?” Rin asks, glancing over at Haruka with a stupidly hopeful expression.

 

“Yeah,” Haruka smiles softly.

 

\--

 

Early October and Haruka is given, by far, his most difficult task yet.

 

Makoto and Gou _really_ want to go to the local octopus festival together. Alone. As a couple.

 

They’d all gone together as a group to the squid festival a few months earlier, and it’d been an unspoken agreement between everyone that they’d do the same for the octopus festival. After all, there were only a few precious months left before graduation, and time was becoming a scarce commodity for them all. 

 

Honestly, Haruka’s kind of irritated by it all. He gets it, of course, gets that Makoto and Gou and their new, budding relationship will be shifting into long-distance sooner rather than later. Of course they want to spend time together, but if they’d just _tell Rin they were dating_ , the festival wouldn’t have had to turn into a convoluted mess.

 

Gou tells everyone that she wants to spend the festival with Chigusa because, to quote, “I’m stuck dealing with you boys all the time. I need a break from men.” 

 

Haruka, Rei and Nagisa are forced to feign offense at the prospect of being ditched, all the while Makoto’s conveniently ‘promised to go with his family’ and is responsible for keeping Ran and Ren out of trouble, so he can’t join them, either.

 

It’s not like he can just refuse his parents, right?

 

The plan is for Nagisa, Rei and Haruka to meet up with the Samezuka relay team, and then spend the rest of the evening texting with Makoto and making sure Rin doesn’t run right into him and Gou. This isn’t a new thing for Nagisa and Rei, they’d spent last year’s squid festival trying to keep Haruka and Rin from running into one another, but Haruka’s really not ready to deal with this level of ridiculousness. 

 

He’s getting really, _really_ tired of having to lie to Rin. It’s gone from an inconvenience to feeling downright wrong, but Makoto’s his best friend, so he’s stuck. Makoto rarely asks for anything, so no matter how much of a pain in the butt this is, Haruka knows he has to do it.

 

Samezuka arrives a bit late to the festival, leaving Haruka, Rei and Nagisa to wander around the stalls while Nagisa sets out a food plan-of-attack.

 

“SO. I texted Sou-chan, and I told him I’d map out the stalls so we know _exactly_ where to start eating. Our goal is to try something from every stall! I was thinking of starting with the octopus balls. Oh oh oh, or we could have octopus skewers! Or octopus buns! What do you think we should get first, Haru-chan?”

 

“Nagisa-kun, do you _really_ intend on trying something from every single stall?”

 

“Eh? Of course, Rei-chan! Why come to a festival if you don’t plan on eating _everything_ they have to offer!”

 

“Well, it’s expensive, for one. Not to mention that you’ll probably end up with a horrible stomachac-“

 

“Rei-chaaaaaan! It’s fine!” Nagisa dismisses with a giant wave. “Me and Sou-chan are going to share everything, so that’s not as bad, yes?”

 

“Well that’s… slightly better, I suppose…”

 

“See? It’ll be fine!”

 

Haruka’s admittedly only half paying attention, grip tight on his cellphone, blue eyes roaming the festival as he waits impatiently for Samezuka to finally appear. He’s antsy and he’s nervous and, while he’s admittedly excited to see Rin again, he’s absolutely _not_ looking forward to an evening full of shenanigans.

 

“Yo.”

 

Haruka turns immediately on his heel at the familiar voice, staring as Rin and the rest of Samezuka work their way through the crowd before stopping before them.

 

“Ai-chan! How are you?” Nagisa asks immediately, darting over, grabbing Aiichirou’s hands excitably in his own.

 

“Ah, I’m good!”

 

“Sou-chan and I were going to get all the food, you should help us eat it so Rei-chan stops worrying!” Nagisa smiles brightly, immediately dragging Aiichirou over to the closest food stand, glancing over his shoulder to give Sousuke a look that clearly says ‘get over here, we have food to obtain.’

 

Sousuke glances at Rin before shrugging, moving to join the other two.

 

“I wasn’t wor-“ Rei cuts himself off with a sigh, shaking his head. The movement seems to catch Momotarou’s attention, wide gold eyes settling on the mask resting on the side of Rei’s head.

 

“Ahhhh! Ultra-kun! I used to love that show, where did you get the mask? Do they still have them? Did you used to watch the show, too!?” Momotarou asks in a flurry of excitable questions as Rei tries to awkwardly wave him down from his bouncing in place.

 

“Good luck, Rei,” Rin laughs, shaking his head before turning his attention on Haruka. “Weird seeing you out without Makoto.”

 

“Mm, you and I go out with Makoto all the time,” Haruka points out easily, eyes idling down the deep V of Rin’s shirt.

 

Oops.

 

“Lately, yeah. But we didn’t used to. I don’t know why he didn’t just bring the twins with us, it would have been fine…” Rin mumbles with a shrug.

 

“You know Makoto, doesn’t want to inconvenience others,” Haruka explains quietly, the irony of his statement not lost on him as he pries his eyes away from Rin, instead glancing around the stalls, watching Nagisa order ten dumplings for three people while Rei shows Momotarou to the mask stand.

 

“Well yeah, but I haven’t seen the twins in forever. Not since last year after regionals when we all started hanging out again. I still can’t believe Ran shoved her finger in my mouth to see if my teeth were real,” Rin laughs, shaking his head in amusement.

 

“She still thinks they’re fake.”

 

“Really?”

 

“They’re ridiculous. _I_ still have trouble believing they’re real.”

 

“O-oi!” Rin grunts, playfully kicking Haruka in the shoe. “You going to stick your finger in my mouth, too?”

 

“Only if you buy me dinner first,” Haruka says with a small smile.

 

“Haru!” Rin yelps in embarrassment before bursting out laughing, shaking his head. “So… what you want to do first? Food? Games?”

 

“Mmm…” Haruka hums thoughtfully, eyes glancing around the stalls until his phone vibrates in his hand, earning his attention, gaze shifting to the screen.

 

**Is Rin here yet???**

 

It takes everything Haruka has in him not to groan, wishing he could just mute his phone and pretend this evening wasn’t an actual thing he was going to have to deal with.

 

Reluctantly, he sends a quick response anyways.

 

**Yeah.**

Haruka immediately shoves his phone back into his pocket, attention falling back on Rin. “Have you eaten yet?”

 

“Mm, no. Not really. Sousuke said he had to save up his appetite for all the vendors because Nagisa would kill him if he didn’t come with an empty stomach. You?” Rin asks easily, snorting in amusement as Nagisa drags Aiichirou and Sousuke to the next stand, flailing as he orders who knows what else for the three of them.

 

“Me neither,” Haruka mumbles, choking back a groan when his phone vibrates once more in his pocket.

 

“Something wrong?” Rin asks as soon as Haruka tugs his phone out a second time.

 

“Just Makoto,” Haruka sighs, glancing at the screen.

 

**Where are you guys? Is everyone there?**?

 

**Yeah.**

Haruka responds curtly, before slowly typing out another message.

 

**By the dumpling vendor.**

He quickly adds. Haruka’s a terrible texter, even with Makoto and Gou’s situation forcing him to use his phone a lot more than he’d like.

 

“Something happen between you two or something?” Rin asks curiously, head tilting to the side.

 

“We’re fine.”

 

“Really? You don’t normally sigh dramatically when it comes to Makoto,” Rin points out easily, pausing to glance down at one of the goldfish catching stalls.

 

“I wasn’t sighing dramatically,” Haruka argues quietly, watching Rin kneel beside the stall, watching some children attempt to scoop up the fish.

 

“You kind of were,” Rin laughs, shaking his head and gesturing for Haruka to join him.

 

Quietly, Haruka follows the silent order, squatting down alongside Rin, eyes on the tub of goldfish.

 

“Does Makoto still keep goldfish?” Rin asks idly, fingers resting on the edge of the tub.

 

“He does,” Haruka nods, glancing over at Rin, then back at the water. “His last one died recently, though…”

 

“Really?” Rin frowns, attention shifting to Haruka. “Think we should try to get him some, then?”

 

“He’ll be moving to Tokyo soon enough,” Haruka shrugs.

 

“Ah, yeah. Can’t really fly with goldfish…” Rin mumbles, fingertips idly trailing along the wet brim of the tub. “We’ll all be gone soon. No point in getting something like fish.”

 

Haruka’s gaze follows one of the black fishes swimming around the small pool of water, stomach knotting at the realization that this may be the last festival he’ll ever spend with Rin in Iwatobi.

 

Soon enough they’ll all be going their separate ways, and while he’s hopeful that he and Rin will meet again on the world stage, these quiet, special moments…

 

They’re entirely fleeting.

 

“I bet Makoto’d like to teach Ran and Ren how to take care of goldfish before he leaves,” Haruka finally says, glancing over at Rin, blue meeting red. “Then he could see them when we come home for holidays…”

 

“You really think he’d like that?”

 

“Yeah. I can take them home with me to give to him,” Haruka say quietly, reaching for his wallet to pull out some cash for them both to play.

 

Quickly it becomes apparent that Rin is absolutely terrible at catching fish, ripping his scoop after only two tries.

 

“You little sh-“ Rin starts, only to cut himself out when a group of small children stare at him with big eyes. “stinker…” Rin finishes awkwardly, glaring when Haruka chokes back his own snicker.

 

“Shut up,” Rin grunts, shouldering Haruka affectionately, causing Haruka to break his own scoop.

 

“Oi!”

 

“Teach you to laugh at me,” Rin grumbles, even though he’s clearly laughing under his breath.

 

“Now we have no fish, Rin,” Haruka sighs, pointedly holding up his equally broken scoop.

 

“Fiiiine,” Rin grunts, reaching for his own wallet, quickly buying them both new scoops. “Okay, let’s try this again. And this time we _actually_ get Makoto two fish.”

 

It takes three tries this time for Rin to break his scoop. “For the love of-“ Rin growls, only for Haruka to offer up his unused scoop.

 

“You’re terrible at this,” Haruka sighs dramatically, waiting for Rin to awkwardly take the scoop before wrapping his fingers around Rin’s hand. “You have to be gentle but quick, Rin,” Haruka explains quietly, taking their hands and holding the scoop just above the water, waiting for a fish to dart near them before gently guiding the scoop underwater, pulling it up before the paper saturates, fish scooped up in one quick movement. “See?” Haruka points out, gently scooping the fish into their bowl full of water before glancing over at Rin.

 

Rin’s expression is unreadable, eyes on their hands, as Haruka’s head tilts slightly to the side. “Rin…?” Haruka asks quietly, hand still settled over Rin’s.

 

“Uhm, let’s uh… get him a black one, next,” Rin mumbles, awkwardly clearing his throat as Haruka nods, guiding both their hands together to scoop up one of the black fish as well.

 

By the time they have the third one scooped, a bag of dumplings are suddenly hung in their collective faces, the surprise causing Rin to jerk his hand back, scoop and fish tumbling back into the water as Nagisa beams down at them.

 

“You caught some fish! It’s just like when we were kids and Mako-chan’d always have Haru-chan catch him some!” Nagisa laughs, leaning over and waggling the bag suggestively in their faces. “Sou-chan pointed out that you guys haven’t eaten yet, and we can’t be having that. Delicious octopus dumplings, on us!”

 

“Uhm, thanks,” Rin mumbles out, immediately climbing to his feet so he can take the bag from Nagisa, peeking inside.

 

“They’re good,” Sousuke offers through a mouthful of dumpling, curious eyes on both Rin and Haruka.

 

Haruka takes a moment to fish the spoon out of the water and put it away in the trash before having the attendant bag their two goldfish for them.

 

“So who are the goldfish for?” Nagisa asks, taking a bite of the octopus skewer he apparently picked up at some other stall while Rin and Haruka were fishing.

 

“Makoto,” Rin explains easily, pulling out one of the dumplings, immediately offering it up to Haruka. “Well, Ran and Ren, technically,” he adds, pulling out a dumpling of his own.

 

Haruka takes the dumpling quietly, watching as Rei, Momotarou and Aiichirou finally arrive, Momotarou and Rei now donning matching masks, differing only in color.

 

“He insisted,” Rei sighs in exasperation, answering the silent question.

 

“Ahhhh! Goldfish scooping! Nii-chan and I used to play this game all the time as kids! He was so good at it and I was SO awful, it was so unfair,” Momotarou whines, large gold eyes hyper-focused on the bag of fish.

 

“I used to be quite good at it myself,” Rei points out, glancing at Haruka and Rin for a moment before looking back at Momotarou. “Perhaps I could cat-“ Rei suddenly freezes mid-sentence, eyes over Momotarou’s shoulders as he jerks his attention back on Rin. “A-actually, why don’t we all go investigate the shooting game!” Rei suggests quickly, shooing everyone towards one of the other stands on the other side of the pathway.

 

Haruka takes a small bite of his dumpling before following Rei’s gaze, catching a quick glimpse of Makoto and Gou before sighing and following after the group.

 

Once he finishes his dumpling, he sends a quick text to Makoto.

 

**I told you we were by the dumpling stand.**

 

It’s probably petty, honestly, but how are they supposed to keep Rin from seeing Makoto and Gou if Makoto and Gou can’t figure out how to follow basic directions?

 

**I’m so sorry!!! We got lost!!**

Haruka debates sending another text that says ‘who are you two, Sousuke?’ but he refrains, because Sousuke hasn’t annoyed him yet today, so it’s probably best not to throw the poor guy under the bus.

 

“Oi, Haru, get over here,” Rin calls out, gesturing for Haruka to come join him. “Shooting game. You, me, Sousuke and Rei.”

 

“Heeeey! Why can’t I play, too?” Momotarou pouts immediately.

 

“Because last time I let you handle a weapon, Sousuke had to cover for both of us when you almost took out Takuya’s eye.”

 

“You just had to let him have a boomerang…” Sousuke mumbles in amusement, moving over to the shooting game booth.

 

“He wanted something stereotypically Australian! I didn’t think he’d youtube how to throw it and fuck up that badly…” Rin groans, shaking his head and taking the gun next to Sousuke.

 

"But the fish..." Haruka mumbles, staring at the bag on his wrist.

 

"I'll hold onto them for you, Nanase-san!"

 

For a moment Haruka stares at Aiichirou, glancing at Rei before both shrugging, Haruka handing off the fish before taking the spot next to Rin, Rei to his other side.

 

“Winds approximately 15km/hr. Coming from the north east. Accommodation for wind approximately 13 degree Angle of firearm-”

 

“Oi, megane, keep spending the whole time calculating in your head and the game’s going to be over before you shoot your first target!”

 

“Focus on your own target, Rin-san!”

 

In the end, it’s Sousuke who wins, politely asking the stall clerk if he can have two small stuffed animals rather than one large one, passing a toy off to both Nagisa and Aiichirou once he has them both.

 

“A-Ah! Yamazaki-senpai, thank you!”

 

“Awwww, Sou-chan, you’re so sweet!” Nagisa beams, giggling when Sousuke awkwardly rubs at the nape of his neck, mumbling something intelligible before retreating back to join Rin.

 

“So, where to next?” Sousuke asks, clearly trying to avoid the adoration of the cute ones, looking at Rin for guidance (alright, protection- Sousuke has _never_ been able to say no to cute things).

 

“Uhh, good question. Why don’t we-“

 

“Go over this way, Rin-chan!” Nagisa yelps, throwing his arms around Rin and Sousuke, stuffed animal in one hand as he shoves them in the opposite direction. “We need more food! All the food! We had a deal, yes, Sou-chan?”

 

“Uh… yeah…” Sousuke mumbles, brows furrowed slightly in confusion as he glances between Rin and Nagisa.

 

“Oi, haven’t you eaten enough, Nagisa?” Rin groans.

 

“There’s no such thing as too much food, Rinrin!”

 

Haruka’s eyes are immediately glancing around, unable to help but internally groan when he realizes that this time it’s Chigusa walking by with her date and no Gou. Can’t out the alibi, of course.

 

Ugh.

 

“Ah, there’s a performance over there, we could go watch?” Rei suggests, gesturing towards a children’s dance troupe performing to a large crowd.

 

“Uh, sure, why not?” Rin shrugs, glancing over at Haruka.

 

The group moseys on over to the performance, standing around and watching the little children dance out of sync with one another to the sound of drums and other instruments.

 

A few minutes in Haruka can’t help but notice that Rin’s smiling at all the children, blue eyes glancing over, watching Rin’s profile.

 

It takes another minute or so for Rin to realize that Haruka’s staring, flushing slightly when he realizes he’s been grinning the whole time. “Ah, sorry,” Rin mumbles quietly, forcing back his smile.

 

“It’s fine, Rin. They’re cute.”

 

“It’s just… it reminds me of when Gou and I were kids. We only did it the one time, but my dad signed Gou and me up to perform in one of these little local dances. I mean it was the summer, not fall, because it was right before he died, but… yeah. Gou kept messing up so bad, but she was only 3. And I got _so_ mad at her, thinking I was perfect at it, but I was only 4 so I’m sure I looked just as stupid. My mom videotaped it, and every once in a while she drags it out and makes us watch it. It’s always kind of weird, you know? Because he’s not in the video, but you can hear him cheering us on…”

 

“Rin…”

 

“Oi, that’s awkward,” Rin mumbles, wincing when one of the mothers quietly shushes them both. “Sorry…” he apologizes immediately, both of them falling back into silence.

 

Once the dance is over they all end up playing the ring toss game, until Nagisa legitimately _is_ hungry again, and starts begging to be fed.

 

And guilting Rei into being his accomplice.

 

“Ahhh, why don’t Nagisa-kun and I get food for everyone, while everyone else finds a place for us to sit down and eat together?”

 

“Sounds fine,” Sousuke nods.

 

“Ahh, that’s too much food for two of you to carry! I’ll help!” Aiichirou immediately offers, grabbing Momotarou and dragging him along to help them with all the food.

 

Sousuke, Haruka and Rin spend awhile trying to find a place to sit, eventually settling on the corner of some long benches, all taking a seat together.

 

“Are they getting drinks, too?” Rin finally asks, glancing between Haruka and Sousuke.

 

“Mmm, not sure…” Sousuke shrugs. “I can go grab us some, though.”

 

“Ugh, no, not you. I don’t want to spend the rest of the evening trying to find you when you inevitably wander off and get lost.”

 

“Hey…”

 

“ _I’ll_ go get us drinks. What do you want, Haruka?” Rin offers, standing up.

 

“I’ll go,” Haruka offers immediately, mind racing.

 

He absolutely can _not_ let Rin wander off alone. He hasn’t heard from Makoto in awhile, and without knowing where the lovebirds are, he can’t let Rin go somewhere unattended.

 

“I can handle drinks, Haru.”

 

“I want to get us drinks.”

 

“Why? Do you think I’m going to bring you anything other than water? I’m not heartless, you know.”

 

“I have to ask Nagisa something important.”

 

“Ask him what?”

 

“Something,” Haruka hedges, trying to ignore the intrigued expression playing across Sousuke’s face.

 

“Mm, just let him go, Rin.”

 

Rin looks confused, and mildly irritated, but with Sousuke’s orders, he reluctantly takes a seat.

 

Haruka nods silently, heading first over to the group ordering a pile of food that’s getting larger by the minute.

 

“Nagisa.”

 

“Eh? What is it, Haru-chan?” Nagisa asks, quickly adding another dish for poor Rei to order before stepping aside to join Haruka.

 

“I need to pretend I have to ask you something.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Rin wanted to get drinks by himself so I went instead.”

 

“Oooooh. Ask me what I got you, then!” Nagisa beams.

 

Haruka’s confused by the question, but he repeats it anyways. “What did you get me?”

 

“Guess who found a stand with mackerel skewers!”

 

“Really…?” Haruka stares, eyes widening.

 

“Mmhmm! Apparently you have another mackerel lover around here! Even though it’s the octopus festival, he added mackerel because it’s his favorite!”

 

“You’re _my_ favorite, Nagisa,” Haruka mumbles, hands trembling in excitement. He didn’t think he’d actually manage to find mackerel at this forsaken festival, but damned if that doesn’t make the evening a _little_ bit better.

 

“Awww, you’re my favorite too, Haru-chan!” Nagisa giggles.

 

“What do you guys want to drink?” Haruka finally asks, gathering up orders before disappearing to one of the drink stands.

 

He’s heading back to the table with a bag full of drinks when dread hits him right in the gut.

 

Only Sousuke’s still at the table.

 

Haruka speeds up immediately, dumping the bag of drinks on the table before Sousuke. “Where’s Rin?” he asks immediately, hands shaky.

 

“He went to the bathroom,” Sousuke offers, staring hard at Haruka for a moment.

 

“Which way did he go!?” Haruka asks immediately, fumbling to grab his phone from his pocket.

 

“Haru, what’s going on?” Sousuke asks evenly.

 

“Which way did he go, Sousuke?”

 

“He went towards the convenient st-“

 

Haruka’s walking away as soon as he knows a direction, half-jogging through the crowd as his wide blue eyes desperately look for familiar red hair.

 

Rationally, he knows odds are that it’ll all be just fine.

 

Rin probably won’t run into Makoto and Gou; it’s an entire festival full of hundreds of people. It can’t _possibly_ be that easily to run into them, right?

 

But Haruka’s heart won’t stop pounding and his eyes won’t stop darting around because Rin absolutely can _not_ find out about Makoto and Gou.

 

He can’t know that Haruka was part of this ridiculous scheme.

 

Because if there’s one thing Haruka’s realized over these last few months, it’s that distracting Rin wasn’t the hassle he originally treated it as. It wasn’t a pain, it wasn’t a problem, it wasn’t too much effort.

 

At some point, it had stopped being about Makoto and Gou. About helping them.

 

All Haruka wanted was to spend time with Rin. Too _keep_ spending time with him.

 

For as long as Rin’d have him.

 

Haruka can’t help but groan in relief when Rin finally comes into view, standing and staring off somewhere Haruka can’t quite determine, unable to follow Rin’s line of vision because of the obstruction of people and stands.

 

“Rin,” He calls out quietly as he gets closer.

 

When Rin ignores him, Haruka’s stomach drops and all that relief runs cold.

 

“Rin…?” he asks as he finally makes it to Rin’s side, following Rin’s stare to one of the alleys between a few buildings near the convenience store Rin had gone to use the restroom at.

 

“The twins look a lot different from how I remember them,” Rin laughs bitterly.

 

Haruka pretty much wants to crawl into a hole and die when he realizes Rin’s staring at Gou and Makoto who he very clearly caught making out behind the alleyway of a convenience store.

 

“R-Rin, I can explain,” Makoto starts, glancing at Gou and then back and Rin, then sending those sweet, pleading green eyes Haruka’s way.

 

“I don’t think I need an explanation, thanks.”

 

“Oniichan, we were going to tell you! We just… we wanted to make sure this was something we really wanted before we told our families!”

 

“We haven’t told anyone but our friends,” Makoto adds, and now Haruka not only wants to crawl into a hole and die, he also wants to murder his best friend for that _stupid_ slip of the tongue.

 

“Only your friends, huh?”

 

“Rin, you know I didn’t mean it that way.”

 

“We only told them because, you know, we asked them to help…” Gou starts, stopping when she realizes how terrible this all sounds.

 

Hindsight’s 20/20, but a few months in and everyone is realizing how ridiculously, utterly _stupid_ they’ve all been.

 

“So you knew the entire time, then?” Rin asks carefully, eyes shifting to Haruka.

 

“He didn’t want to do it, oniichan!”

 

“It’s our fault, not Haru’s! Please don’t blame him. I pressured him into doing it, and I was stupid enough to think that cans of mackerel were a fair exchange for making him lie to you.”

 

Rin freezes in place, and Haruka feels as helpless as he did the day he watched Rin struggle just to get out of the pool.

 

As helpless as he’d been when Rin had quit swimming.

 

Suddenly, Haruka feels 13-years-old all over again.

 

“…You… lied to me for cans of _mackerel_ …?”

 

“Ri-“ Haruka starts, but Rin doesn’t let him finish. Not this time.

 

“So _every time_ we’ve hung out these last few months, all those trips to the aquarium and those races and the mall and the tutoring, it was _all_ just because you were covering for your best friend dating my little sister? And he paid you in cans of _mackerel_?”

 

“Rin, that’s not-“

 

“What’s going o-“

 

Sousuke doesn’t finish his sentence as he breathily catches up to them, eyes shifting between all four of them. “Ah. So that’s it, then…”

 

“And _you_ two. It was the same for you, wasn’t it? Arcade trips? The library? Randomly calling me up because we ‘haven’t hung out in awhile’ or whatever? All for Makoto and Gou.”

 

Haruka doesn’t see Rei and Nagisa rush to join them, but he knows they’re there behind him, can imagine they feel about as disgusted with themselves as he does with himself.

 

It’s an awful, _horrible_ feeling.

 

“Rin-san, I’m s-”

 

“What did you guys all think I was going to do, anyways? Why the hell were you so fucking scared of me finding out? What was I going to do, beat up Makoto for Gou’s honor? It’s Makoto, for Christ’s sake,” Rin snaps, scowl alternating between all of them.

 

“Oniichan we just, we didn’t think-“

 

“Exactly. You _didn’t fucking think_. None of you did. You lied to me, you pretended to give a shit, pretended you all wanted to hang out with me, just for… fuck, I can’t do this. I’m going home,” Rin snaps, turning on his heel and immediately, hastily walking away.

 

“Rin, wa-“ Haruka starts, desperate to fix this, desperate to stop Rin from walking away from him all over again.

 

Except unlike back then, this time it _is_ his fault, and he knows it.

 

Sousuke’s hand shoots out to grab Haruka’s arm before he can chase after Rin, expression unimpressed. “Oi, I think you’ve all done enough. Someone tell Ai and Momo me and Rin went home early because Rin wasn’t feeling well,” Sousuke says, giving them all a judgmental look before releasing Haruka’s arm and hastily following after Rin.

 

“I… I’m so sorry, guys…” Makoto mumbles, looking like he’s about to cry as he rubs at his arm, struggling to meet them all in the eyes. “I’ll try to talk to him later, to clear everything up. This is all my fault.”

 

“Mine too,” Gou adds, clearly shaken. “We shouldn’t have dragged you all into this, I’m _so_ sorry. I’ll talk to him. And to Sousuke-kun as well. You guys did nothing wrong, you were just trying to help us! This is all our fault.”

 

Haruka wants to agree, because it _is_ their fault. But he went along with it.

 

He lied to Rin.

 

Over and over and _over_ again.

 

And he was stupid enough to not realize until it was far too late that those dates with Rin had long stopped being about helping Makoto and Gou.

 

He’d fallen in love with Rin, and now he’d ruined _everything_.

 

\--

 

“No.”

 

“Please, Sousuke.”

 

“I think you’ve done enough, Haru. When he wants to see you, he’ll see you.”

 

“But he won’t answer my calls.”

 

“That would be the point.”

 

“I can’t get into your dorm without you.”

 

“Also the point.”

 

“I made a mistake.”

 

“Obviously.”

 

“Sousuke.”

 

“Look, what do you want from me, Haru? I’m Rin’s best friend, I’m not going to force him to do something he doesn’t want to do. You hurt him. _Bad_. And it’s not even just you. The entire Iwatobi team did something really shitty to him, including his own sister, and after all of your rah rah friendship is magic crap last year, it really hit him hard. I’m not saying I don’t get why you guys did it, but I’m also not going to pretend it doesn’t really suck for him. So maybe you all should just back off and let him sort out how he feels.”

 

“But I need to make this right.”

 

“Yeah, you do. But I’m not going to be your in to do that. Figure it out yourself.”

 

\--

 

After Haruka’s failed phone call to Sousuke, he’s forced to wait until their next joint swim meet to see Rin.

 

Honestly, he expects Rin to cancel it, Iwatobi _is_ the one benefiting from the arrangement after all, but Rin keeps up with captainly expectations and allows them to train in the Samezuka pool during the off-season.

 

Every single one of them attempts to get Rin’s attention, to apologize, but Rin acts as though his captaincy means he can’t spare them even a moment, and they go the entire meet without managing more than a hello.

 

When they all head to the showers, Rin stays after with Aiichirou to talk with one of the head coaches, presumably about the team’s times and Aiichirou’s impending captaincy.

 

Haruka makes an executive decision to shower quickly, then to stay after, waiting for Rin.

 

Sousuke gives him a look but doesn’t ask any questions, and once he lets Iwatobi know what he’s doing, he’s left to wait impatiently for Rin to show up.

 

The minute Aiichirou sees Haruka, he makes the quick, smart decision to pick a stall on the other side of the shower room, leaving Rin to awkwardly stare Haruka down.

 

“I thought by ignoring you all you’d get the message,” Rin grunts, unimpressed as he steps around Haruka, heading towards one of the showers.

 

“Rin, I’m sorry.”

 

“Cool,” Rin shrugs.

 

Haruka waits in frustrated silence outside the showers, watching as Aiichirou finishes up, mumbling a quick ‘good luck’ before changing and disappearing before he can get caught up in any drama he clearly doesn’t want to deal with.

 

Rin takes his sweet time in the shower, likely because he realizes Haruka’s waiting for him, only reluctantly appearing when he really can’t stall any longer.

 

“Why are you still here?” Rin grunts, pointedly avoiding eye contact as he heads towards his locker to change.

 

“I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”

 

Rin throws Haruka an unimpressed scowl, and now that Rin’s finally looking at him, Haruka realizes how reminiscent of last year this all feels.

 

Rin looks downright exhausted, dark bags heavy under his eyes, expression a horrible mix of anger and sadness. It's an awful expression that Haruka had told himself months ago he’d never let Rin experience again.

 

“What’s there to talk about? You spent all that time with me because you were covering for Makoto and Gou. I got it,” Rin says curtly, disappearing to go get dressed.

 

Haruka waits for Rin to finish changing before responding. “Rin, _please._ ”

 

“There’s nowhere we can talk in private here anyways,” Rin shrugs, slinging his bag over his shoulder and moving to step around Haruka.

 

Haruka’s hand flies out without him even realizing it, grabbing Rin’s wrist to stop him from leaving again.

 

This time, to Haruka’s relief, Rin doesn’t pull it away.

 

“My house?”

 

Rin stays still for a moment, clearly frustrated, before finally groaning. “This isn’t some bullshit trap where I get to your place and your entire dumb team is there ready to apologize and shit?”

 

Haruka silently shakes his head, gently letting go of Rin’s wrist.

 

“Shit, fine.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

\--

 

The stifling silence of the train ride back is, hands down, one of the most awkward feelings Haruka’s ever experienced. The train’s not very crowded, and Rin had very pointedly opted to not sit next to Haruka, instead sitting across the aisle so he can stare out the window.

 

The walk back to Haruka’s home is equally silent, and by the time they step inside and remove their shoes, Haruka feels like he’s about to explode.

 

“Alright, talk,” Rin says lowly, hanging up his coat, arms crossing over his chest as he stares at Haruka.

 

Haruka’s mouth opens, but as hard as he tries, nothing manages to come out other than an awkward little choking squeak.

 

“Wow, that clears up everything,” Rin snorts in derision, glancing back at his coat. “I’m leaving.”

 

“No!”

 

“Oi, Haru…”

 

“I-I think I’m falling in love with you, Rin!” Haruka blurts out, eyes going wide as soon as it registers just what he’s choked out.

 

Oh no.

 

Oh _no._

What in the _hell_ was wrong with him?

 

“…What…?”

 

“I…” Haruka struggles, heart pounding, eyes wide, hands trembling as his eyes meet Rin’s. “I… at first I _did_ do it because of Makoto and Gou, but eventually… it stopped being about them and started being about _you_.”

 

“Haru, what the hell are you talking about…?” Rin asks, voice gruff and laced with what Haruka can only guess is fear.

 

Well, he supposes that makes two of them, then.

 

“I… I got annoyed when Makoto asked Nagisa and Rei to distract you because… because that was _my_ reason to spend time with you.”

 

“Haru…”

 

“And when Makoto and Gou didn’t feel like going out, I asked them to go anyways.”

 

“I…”

 

“I-I spent so much time coming up with date ideas...”

 

“They weren’t dates, Haru…”

 

“But they _were_. For me they were, anyways…”

 

Rin looks completely and utterly overwhelmed, like he’s about to either start crying or hyperventilating any second now.

 

“You… you helped me find my dream, Rin. And then you became _part_ of it…”

 

Now Rin _is_ choking back tears, struggling to maintain his composure as he fights to keep his red, wet eyes steadied on Haruka. “I… I leave for Australia after graduation, Haru. And you’re going to Tokyo…”

 

“I can figure out skype.”

 

“Haru, you can’t even figure out how to answer your phone.”

 

“Makoto will help me.”

 

“Long distance relationships are hard…”

 

“You’re worth it.”

 

Rin clearly doesn’t know what to say to _that_ , tongue darting out to nervously trail along soft lips, cheeks flushed. “I’ve been so goddamned mad at you this past week…” Rin groans, shaking his head in exacerbation. “You’re such a fucking idiot.”

 

“I am.”

 

Rin can’t help but laugh. “Well, at least you admit it…”

 

Silence falls between them for a few moments, and while Rin hasn’t answered yet, Haruka can feel himself beginning to relax some. Rin looks a little lost, and conflicted, still standing awkwardly in the genkan, but that anguished expression is gone, and no matter what Rin’s answer is, Haruka’s reassured knowing that at least Rin’s… they’ll be okay.

 

“I… I’ve always admired you, Haru. I know I told you that, back in Australia, but I really meant it.”

 

Haruka nods silently, waiting for Rin to continue.

 

“I mean… you’re a total idiot sometimes. And you’re weird as fuck. Mackerel? Mascot characters? Two hour long morning baths? Seriously…”

 

“O-Oi…”

 

“But you’re stubborn in the _best_ way. Steadfast, focused. Intelligent. The most talented person I know, for sure. I swear to god, sometimes I wonder if there’s anything you’re _not_ good at.”

 

“Rin…”

 

“You drive me absolutely _crazy_ , Haru. In both the best and worst way.”

 

“You do, too,” Haruka can’t help but smile lightly. It’s 100% true. Rin is simultaneously the most interesting, endearing person Haruka’s ever met, while also being able to push every single button he has.

 

Their relationship has never come easy, it’s always been a struggle since day one, but… well, it’s absolutely worth fighting for.

 

“So this is… it’s _really_ something you’d want to try? It’d… it’d be hard…” Rin asks tentatively, clearly nervous and hesitant, fingers of one hand tugging distractedly on the string of his hoodie.

 

It’s not really a question for Haruka, honestly. He knows what Rin’s getting at, what he’s implying, the difficulties and the hardships and that everything a potential relationship between them would be.

 

But Rin’s right; Haruka is _stubborn_ , and society will never, _ever_ dictate what he does or who he loves.

 

Haruka merely nods, staring at Rin for a moment as Rin shifts from foot-to-foot, an absolutely electric bundle of nerves.

 

“Rin,” Haruka asks, waiting for Rin to meet his eyes. “Can I…?”

 

Rin stares in confusion for a moment. “Can you what?”

 

“I… I want to kiss you,” Haruka mumbles, voice getting quieter and a bit pitchier than he’ll ever admit as those words come tumbling right out.

 

“O- _oh_ …” Rin chokes, eyes wide, tongue darting out once more as he nervously nods.

 

Okay, so admittedly, Haruka’s never done this before. In fact, he’s not quite sure what compelled him to even ask, other than Rin won’t stop running his tongue over his lower lip, and it’s becoming more inviting by the second.

 

At the very least, Rin seems equally inexperienced, as Haruka closes the gap between them, blue eyes meeting nervous red. When Haruka leans in close, he accidentally bumps their noses together, earning an embarrassed apology from Rin as they both try to shift their head slightly at the same time.

 

…In the same direction.

 

Rin can’t help but laugh at the sheer idiocy of their stupid attempt at a first kiss, and while Rin’s smiling Haruka takes his chance, shifting his own face to the side so he can tentatively press their lips together.

 

Rin’s mouth is about as warm and soft as Haruka imagined, tasting of a mix of chlorine and Pocari Sweat (apparently Rin had grabbed a drink before heading to the showers or something) as Haruka nervously brushes his lips against Rin’s.

 

Rin pulls away with the scrunch of his nose, eyeing Haruka in disapproval. “Jesus, you _actually_ taste like mackerel. Does it just seep out of your pores now or something? Or are you slowly transitioning into the mackerel man you’ve always dreamed of becoming?”

 

“I had a snack before practice…” Haruka mumbles, hand reaching out to idly brush some of Rin’s hair out of his face. “Can I do it again?” Haruka asks quietly.

 

_And again and again and again_ , he hopes silently to himself.

 

To his surprise, this time it’s Rin who moves forward, capturing Haruka’s lips with his own.

 

\--

 

**_SEVEN MONTHS LATER_ **

 

“Rin? Rin, are you there? Can you see me?”

 

“O-Oi, Haru! Back up some,” Rin laughs as Haruka glances around in confusion.

 

“Back up?”

 

“Yes! You’re too close to the camera, idiot. All I can see is your hoodie.”

 

“O-Oh. Can you hear me?” Haruka asks, awkwardly pulling away from his laptop, smiling softly when he finally realizes he can see Rin in the small window of his computer.

 

“Loud and clear, Haru,” Rin grins, teeth nibbling excitedly on his lower lip as he gives Haruka a playful wave.

 

“Makoto helped me,” Haruka explains, idly poking at the screen as though he can somehow touch Rin through it.

 

“I figured,” Rin laughs, shaking his head in amusement. “How’s Tokyo so far?”

 

“Crowded.”

 

“Well it _is_ a huge city.”

 

“I can’t smell the ocean, Rin.”

 

“Got anything positive to say?” Rin snickers.

 

“Hm,” Haruka pauses for a moment to think. “I like the pool.”

 

“Pshh, of course you do.”

 

“How’s Australia?”

 

“Mmm, it feels different this time around.”

 

“Different?”

 

“Mmm, better. Easier. _Right_. I think it helps that I have a goal to focus on, now. On a dream that’s all my own.”

 

Haruka can’t help but smile at Rin’s excitement, just _feeling_ that heat and energy through the screen, even thousands of kilometers away.

 

“I already kind of miss you, Haru,” Rin admits awkwardly, laughing at himself as he shifts on his bed.

 

“Me too…”

 

“But I’ll be back for national tryouts in like a month. So don’t slack off, you hear me? I’m going to personally come kick your ass if I come all the way back to Tokyo and you don’t make the national team with me because you ate too much mackerel and didn’t do enough land training.”

 

“Oiii…”

 

“The dream may be my own, but you’re along for the ride too, you got that?”

 

Haruka sighs in exacerbation, but they both know he doesn’t mean it, as he finally meets Rin’s eyes with his own.

 

Rin’s right; they _are_ in this together.

 

And Haruka’s never been more excited to see what his future, _their_ future, holds.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously this fic has makogou in it, but I didn't tag it because, as usual, I hate adding a fic to a pairing tag that doesn't heavily feature that pairing. I hope no one minds!
> 
> Also, omg the ending was kind of rushed, I apologize! In a turn of events shocking to absolutely no one, I was late with writing this, and late means sometimes I get rushed trying to finish things so they don't become even MORE late, lol. Hope it was still okay!


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